My uncle, Ulrich Mutzeneek left Latvia and came to the U.S. and after some time there, came on to Canada.
In 1912 my father, Fred Mutzeneek accompanied by Ulrich's family and his wife's mother left Latvia for Canada. During the voyage Ulrich's wife passed away. The sad young family consisting of two boys and two girls and the grandmother, came to land at Halifax. Crossing Canada by train, they came to Gainford and then to their homestead the SE28-54-5-W5.
(Frederick filed on SW22-54-5-W5) in 1912 and built a log house. He also worked out in Edmonton working on the construction of the High Level bridge and also the McLeod building. Then he worked on the railroad being built along the north shore of Isle Lake. In 1913, my mother and four boys, Ernest, Carl, Edward and I left our home in Ventspils, Latvia near the shore of the Baltic Sea. We came across the Atlantic on the ship Kursk. The trip took 14 days and for three days the ship dodged icebergs. The crossing was very rough with high winds and and huge rolling waves rocked the ship. This is my memory of the trip.
As we were young children, Ernest 10, Carl 8, Edward 2 1/2 and I was 4 years old, we had become sick with red measles aboard ship. We arrived in Halifax in June, 1913. Mother and ailing children came on by train across Canada to Gainford. There we waited on the shores of Lake Isle for a boat to take us across the lake to the north shore, from there we left by wagon for the homestead.
The memory of arriving is of a small log house set among tree stumps. The climate in the part of Latvia we came from was mild and there were fruit trees, berries and good gardens - a contrast with Canada's bitter winter weather which was difficult to cope with,
As time passed we grew accustomed to Canada's weather and there was land to be cleared, stumps to be pulled to make fields for crops.
A walking plow was used and we had two oxen, Bob and Hugh. We became Canadian citizens in 1916.
There were several families from Latvia settled in the area from Magnolia to Lake Isle and south of Seba Beach, possibly 20 or more families from Latvia. Most of them have moved away over the years. Ed Jones, Melvin Kubel, Walt Deering and I are the only ones left in this area. The families visited back and forth a good deal. At that time there was an excellent Lettish choir, who sang at home in those days for entertainment when time could be taken from the hard work of making a living.
Lake Isle School was built in 1913 and we attended school there. In 1921, I remember coming home from school one day and seeing our house had ben burned to the ground. Very little had been saved. My mother had rescued her spinning wheel which she had brought with her from the old country. The fire was a real blow to the family and we took some time to get over it.
When the first Lake Isle Hall was built my father hewed the logs for the building with a broad axe. He was an expert in this work and hewed many logs for buildings in his day.
We had good neighbours and lots of children in the district, who walked many miles to go swimming in the summer and skating in the winter and walked to any social events that went on.
There was a Dr. Emmett in Gainford who came to our home when we had the flu in 1918.
My mother brought five pounds of rye seed from Latvia when she came to Canada. They planted it and when it was growing well, the rabbits came in hoards. My parents built a woven willow fence around the patch to keep the rabbits out. This proved successful and they were able to thresh it with a flail when it was harvested. My father took samples of this rye to fairs in Edmonton where he won prizes. With the money he won he brought home a sewing machine for my mother.
As time went on my father built a fairly large home of hewed logs where we lived for many years. There is a plowed field there now. The log buildings have long since gone.
We boys, as we grew older, went out some winters cutting railroad ties, also mine props, south of Lake Wabamun. In later years we had a portable saw mill and I sawed many thousands of feet of lumber in this district and other districts in the country for around 20 years. We also did custom threshing for many years.
There was not a church in the area in the early years; nor was there a cemetery. On a hill on the west side of our home there are a few graves of pioneers and some children who died in the early years in the district.
My brother Ernest farmed north of Sangudo, and is now in Mayerthorpe. Carl lived in Westlock for many years. He passed away in July, 1978. Edward passed away in 1965. My father died in 1945 and my mother in 1955.
My wife and I live between Darwell and Lake Isle, having renovated the old Lake Isle School house into a home. We have four children, two boys, Bill and Leonard, and two girls, Myrna and Sandra.
Bill, Sandra and Leonard make their homes in Calgary. Myrna is in Onoway. We are retired pensioners. I manage to keep busy doing a bit of carpenter work and the days go by quickly. We are pretty healthy so far and we are looking ahead to a few more years on the place if all goes well.